SEARCH AND RESCUE – TBT

#ThrowbackThursday #LASD The Search and Rescue teams function as the Sheriff’s Department’s official emergency response unit. The unit provides services to those citizens who become stranded, lost, or injured in the mountainous areas of Los Angeles County.

There are eight individual teams: Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team, Antelope Valley Search and Rescue, Malibu Search and Rescue Team, Santa Clarita Valley Search and Rescue Team, Montrose Search and Rescue, San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team and Avalon Search and Rescue Team.

Most of the team members are Los Angeles County Sheriff Reserve Deputies, while others are dedicated volunteers from the local communities to assist in search and rescue operations. All teams are under the direction of the local Sheriff’s Stations.

Because team members would go into steep and treacherous terrain, possibly at night or in the rain, it is imperative that all members are well trained. In addition to academy training, Search and Rescue Team members undergo extensive mountaineering training. Also, they must hold a current Emergency Medical Technician license and usually must live within a fifteen or twenty minute response time of the station where they serve. 

Each team member is selected for his or her physical capabilities, maturity, and willingness to respond at a moment’s notice in emergency search and rescue situations. The men and women of the team are highly trained in technical rope rescue, swift water, snow and ice operations search theory and tracking.

As a part of the state of California mutual aid system, the teams also provides support search and rescue efforts throughout California and the United States.

They are ready to respond to emergency 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, to “anywhere in the wilderness that someone needs help”!

**#1951 picture from LASD museum

** Malibu search team picture from their facebook.